


The Song that Changed

by PrincessAmonRae



Series: Prolonged Promises [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29054379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAmonRae/pseuds/PrincessAmonRae
Summary: “The Ood said my song was ending. It was supposed to end when I heard four knocks,” he said.“Maybe the song changed,” I said softly.“That’s the point. It has changed and it’s because of you. You changed it Emma and I don’t know what that means for you.” He looked at me with worry and I shrugged slightly.“You have changed things plenty of times. And I suppose that if the universe has issue with me changing the song then it can take it up with me.”
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Prolonged Promises [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725745
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome Back Everyone! Glad you could join us!

“Come on Doctor. I have been convalescing for almost three weeks and I’m starting to get bored,” I said as I watched the Doctor put the kettle back together. He sent me a look across the kitchen. 

“Emma-“ I held up a finger before he could run through the reasons we were still staying in the apartment with Lillian. I’d made us leave Sarah Jane’s after two days because she didn’t deserve to be continually tripping over us. 

“Yes, I know I could have died, but I didn’t. I know my muscles had some stiffness, but I did lots of yoga so its fine. And I know this is going to sound childish, but I’m bored, and I want to go on an adventure,” I said and ticked all the things off on my fingers as I went. He set down the kettle parts with a deep sigh. 

“I don’t know. I might try to fix the Chameleon Circuit before we go,” he said casually. 

“No. You can’t fix the Chameleon Circuit at this point in your life,” I said. He raised an eyebrow up at me. 

“And why can’t I?” 

“Firstly, because I am very attached to the style she’s currently wearing. Most importantly because The Doctor inside that big blue box is your brand.” I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Now stop trying to distract me and tell me what are you really worried about? Because I also know my logic is good,” I said, and he gave another sigh. 

“The Ood said my song was ending. It was supposed to end when I heard four knocks,” he said. 

“Maybe the song changed,” I said softly. 

“That’s the point. It has changed and it’s because of you. You changed it Emma and I don’t know what that means for you.” He looked at me with worry and I shrugged slightly. 

“You have changed things plenty of times. And I suppose that if the universe has issue with me changing the song then it can take it up with me.” The Doctor laughed and dragged me into a hug. 

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he said, and I tipped my head up to grin at him. 

“Why? Afraid the universe can’t take me?” I asked teasingly, and he laughed again. 

“The universe wouldn’t stand a chance,” he said and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I smiled and hugged him again tightly. 

“You still have to put the kettle back together before you leave,” Lillian announced from the front door. I detached myself from the Doctor and made a carry-on motion as I stuck my head out into the hallway. She grinned and gave me a thumbs up. 

“I thought you had a meeting?” I said as Lillian took off her coat. 

“It was postponed. Kelly’s got the flu. Oh, and I wanted to talk to you about sub letting your room temporarily,” she said. 

“I already told you that you should,” I said with a little laugh. 

“Okay but if I do sublet then I think it’s only fair that you don’t pay rent anymore.” I stepped fully out of the kitchen. 

“That’s not fair.” Lillian sent me a look and I crossed my arms in response. 

“Yes, it’s fair as you’re not living here currently.” We stared at each other for a few moments before I sighed in defeat. 

“You won’t sublet unless I agree to not pay rent?” I clarified, and Lillian nodded firmly. “Fine I’ll stop paying rent.” 

“The possible renter would only be here for a semester. That doesn’t mean that you can’t come home though okay?” Lillian said, and I nodded. 

“I know. Hey since you have the day off now did you want to come for a quick adventure with us? After the Doctor finishes fixing the kettle of course,” I offered a little louder so that the Doctor could hear me clearly. 

“I’d be delighted to have Lillian come along,” he called back over the suddenly overly loud sound of the sonic screwdriver. I grinned while Lillian laughed. 

“I appreciate the offer, but unless you can give me a one hundred percent guarantee that you can get me back here for tomorrow morning I’m going to pass.” She sent a curious look towards the door of the kitchen. 

“Well. Not one hundred percent,” the Doctor said back after a few moments of sonic sounds. Lillian flashed me a knowing smug look and I laughed as the Doctor walked out of the kitchen. 

“The kettle’s fixed,” he announced. Lillian patted him on the shoulder in thanks and swept past him. 

“Off you go then. Try not to let my best friend get shot again,” she said. I rolled my eyes. 

“That was one-time Lillian,” I called sarcastically. 

“And much like the Investigative Incident of 2004; once was quite enough thank you.” I laughed and rolled my eyes again. 

“You are never going to let that go, are you?” I asked, and Lillian poked her head out of the kitchen to nod. 

“Never ever,” she confirmed. I smiled and held out my arms for a hug which she flew into. 

“I love you and miss you already,” I said. She squeezed me back tightly. 

“I love you and miss you already more.” The Doctor stepped forward to shake Lillian’s hand after we parted, but Lillian simply dragged him into a hug while I headed for my bedroom to put my last bag into the TARDIS. I patted the console excitedly when I got in. 

“I convinced the Doctor to start travelling again and I didn’t even need you to make up an emergency. Look at us go,” I said, and the TARDIS hummed slightly. 

“The two of you teaming up is not ideal for me is it?” the Doctor asked from the door and I spun to face him with a slightly sheepish smile on my face. 

“Hey, the TARDIS was just bored too,” I said, and he laughed while walking up to me with his hands stuck in his pockets. 

“I have something for you. Hold out your hand and close your eyes.” I did as requested and waited for a few seconds before the Doctor gently grasped my hand and placed something cool and metallic into my palm. 

“Okay open.” I opened my eyes and saw a key attached to a chain and I gasped in delight. 

“Is this a key for the TARDIS?” I asked as I picked it up to look at it in closer detail. 

“It is. I’ve been meaning to give you one for ages, but it kept slipping my mind and then I decided to add a few extra updates just for you,” he said. I brushed my fingers over it reverently before undoing the clasp and handing it to the Doctor. 

“What kind of updates?” I asked as I pivoted so that he could put it on for me. 

“I made sure the chain couldn’t get caught in your curls. The chain is also extendable, so you don’t need to take it off to unlock the door. Most importantly I added a homing beacon, so I can find you anywhere, any when. No more Russia incidents.” He kissed the top of my head as he dropped the clasp and swept my hair back into place before stepping away from me and starting the TARDIS. 

.“Or Typus Seven. Or Draconia. Or almost Weeping Angels.” He sent me a look and I laughed. 

“Yes, you’ve clearly demonstrated a need for it. My blood pressure certainly does,” he said dryly, and I laughed harder. 

“I’ll try to be better,” I promised as I came to stand next to him. “Where are we going?” 

“1920’s Paris! We did kind of miss being able to ring in the New Year in style, so I figured I’d make up for it.” He sent me a wink as he stepped back from the console and gestured at me to take over. I stepped forward and smoothly landed us. 

“I think I am officially ready to try a take off,” I said, and the Doctor nodded in agreement with a huge smile on his face. “Maybe when we move on from here unless we’re making a quick escape?” 

“Sounds reasonable,” he said as he planted a quick kiss on my forehead. 

“You’re only supposed to do that when I’m brilliant,” I teased. 

“And you just brilliantly landed the TARDIS,” he said with an eyebrow wiggle. I rolled my eyes while I laughed and nudged his shoulder towards the door. 

“And here we are!” He announced with a dramatic arm wave as soon as he opened the door. I peeked over his shoulder and nodded at the vintage car across the very small street what seemed to be a very small city. 

“Well it’s definitely the 1920’s,” I said with only a touch of sarcasm. “The Paris part I’m not so sure of.” The Doctor looked around and made a disappointed, slightly aggravated noise. 

“I thought I had it this time,” he said with a slight pout. I laughed and patted his arm gently in support. 

“Hey maybe it was my landing. Besides that, I’m sure wherever we are will be just as entertaining as Paris.” The Doctor grumbled slightly under his breath as we stepped fully out of the TARDIS. 

“Someday I’ll get you to Paris,” he said as he held out his arm and started leading me down the street when I accepted. I peered up at him in confusion. 

“Wait how long have you been trying to take me to Paris?” I asked, and embarrassment flashed over his face quickly. 

“Since the Weeping Angels to try and apologize,” he said. I smiled and leaned against his shoulder. 

“You already did apologize,” I said. “But I appreciate the thought.” I suddenly realized as I glanced around that the street had emptied out slightly and that there was a man walking up to us in a pinstripe suit. 

“Good afternoon, sir, ma’am.” The man tipped the brow of his fedora at me and the Doctor’s hand tightened around my arm gently, though I couldn’t tell if it was out of some kind of possessiveness or worry. “Big Al was hoping to have a word with you.” 

“And if we say no?” the Doctor asked casually, and the man shrugged idly. 

“Listen the boss man just wants to make sure we don’t have any new Mounties in town. Sammy saw you arriving with a big box that said police.” The Doctor frowned at that. 

“Mounties?” He repeated, and I gasped. 

“Are we in Canada?” I asked. 

“Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to be specific,” the man answered slowly. 

“So Big Al is Al Capone! Oh, Lillian is going to be furious that she didn’t come along!” I cried, and the Doctor gave me a shocked look. I gestured at the other man. 

“We’ll follow right behind you,” I said and dragged the Doctor along with me. 

“Is this what it feels like to be on the other side of this?” he asked, and I nodded. 

“Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Canada was a big hot spot for prohibition rum runners. Big enough that it earned itself the nickname ‘Little Chicago’. Al Capone allegedly spent some time here.” The Doctor raised his eyebrows. 

“Allegedly?” 

“There’s lots of first-hand accounts that he was here, but no pictures or third hand accounts to prove it. So, the Mounties he was referring to earlier would be the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,” I explained. 

“And Lillian would be furious because?” 

“She’s loved Al Capone ever since we were eight and she did a project on him. Just one of those things that happens you know,” I said, and the Doctor nodded like that explained everything and didn’t all at once. I patted his arm consolingly. 

“I would have thought you’d be used to this by now.” 

“You continue to surprise and amaze me in the best ways possible,” he said, and I smiled before biting down on my lip slightly. 

“Do you think I’m underdressed?” the Doctor raised his eyebrow up at me slightly. “Well I mean it’s Al Capone.” 

“Surprise and amaze.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Oh Wow,” I said in awe as I studied the speakeasy we had stepped into behind our guide, who after a little bit of prompting by the Doctor had given his name as Jimmy. The Doctor gave me a smile. 

“This isn’t even the most impressive speakeasy I’ve ever been in. Remind me to take you to Chicago or New York in this era,” he said, and I nodded. 

“We can take Lillian so that she’ll forgive me,” I said as we were waved to a booth in the corner of the bar. The Doctor slid in first, probably so that if we had to make a run for it, I would be closest to the door. 

“And who are you two then?” Al Capone asked after he had thanked Jimmy for bringing us to him. The brunette girl sitting next to him pouted. 

“Aw come on Big Al, we can still be hospitable before we do business, right?” She asked, and he nodded begrudgingly. She turned towards us. 

“You two want something to drink?” She asked. 

“No thank you. I’ve got terrible tolerance,” I said, and the Doctor mumbled something about how 1920’s liquor would probably kill me. I nudged him playfully in response and he also responded in the negative towards a drink. 

“Satisfied, Lola?” Al asked, and she nodded. 

“Thanks, Big Al,” she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He nodded gruffly before turning to face us. 

“Who are you two then?” Al asked, and the Doctor shrugged casually. 

“Our names are Emma and the Doctor,” I said at the same time as the Doctor spoke. 

“Travelers.” Al frowned at his words. 

“You trying to move in on my business?” He asked. “I know lots of people like me use girls dressed up as boys to move cargo.” I glanced down at myself and realized that I was still wearing jeans and a T-shirt. 

“Just more comfortable when you’re on the road,” I said. “I noticed you don’t think we’re police.” Al scoffed and jerked his thumb toward the Doctor. 

“No way that man’s a pig,” he said. Lola and I laughed while the Doctor raised an eyebrow up at me. 

“Well he’s right,” I said soothingly. 

“Sorry for the bother, but when new folks show up in town when I’m trying to lie low, I get suspicious,” Al said. “You know how those Mounties are.” 

“Yes indeed,” the Doctor said. Lola leaned against Al’s arm in an enticing manner. 

“Don’t you think we should offer these two a few drinks on the house if they come to the bar tonight? Just to offer a sincere apology for taking up their time,” Lola suggested. Al grunted and glanced up at us. 

“I don’t see any harm in that.” Lola leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek before Al slid out of the booth and tipped his fedora at us. 

“You got a dress somewhere?” Lola asked me, and I sent a glance to the Doctor to see if he knew about what was in the wardrobe off the top of his head. He nodded so I took that to mean that we had something acceptable. 

“I do. I just have to go put it on and do my hair,” I said, and Lola leaned forward and pursed her lips at me. 

“Why don’t you let me do your hair?” She asked. My nerves must have shown on my face because she reached over and patted my hand quickly. “I just mean that it’s always easier to let someone else do it.” 

“I was just going to put my hair up in a bun,” I said, and she beamed at me. 

“You can just meet me upstairs. Give Joe my name at the counter,” she said as she got up from the booth as well and stretched slightly. 

“Look at you go,” the Doctor said softly into my ear as Jimmy led us out of the speakeasy and pointed at the other door to come in to find Lola. “Keep this up and you’ll have a friend in every decade of history.” 

“Oh, like you’re any better,” I said teasingly. He flashed me a grin. 

“I would never claim to be,” he said. We walked in silence for a few moments before I laughed slightly, and he looked down at me. 

“What?” 

“I was just thinking that I couldn’t really be considered a time traveller until I met someone out of order and then I remembered that I have met someone out of order.” The Doctor laughed as well and grinned at me. 

“And well before you started travelling with me as well. If that isn’t the sign of a true time traveller then I don’t know what is,” he said. 

“How was six-year-old me? I forgot to ask,” I said, and he raised an eyebrow up at me. 

“Perceptive and blunt,” he said. “It was an interesting experience.” 

“You sound almost traumatized,” I teased. 

“At least you gave me some warning. Could you imagine if I had spilled out of the TARDIS without any?” I thought about it for a moment. 

“I have great confidence that our picnic would have gone about the same way,” I said. 

“I have great confidence that I would have told you even more than I should have,” he said with a self-deprecating eyebrow raise. I laughed at that, even though I wasn’t sure he was trying to make a joke. 

“More?” I repeated and glanced up at him conspiratorially to see if he would tell me exactly what he hadn’t meant to tell me. He pulled a disgruntled face. 

“The perception hasn’t changed in the slightest,” he said and sighed in defeat when I fluttered my eye lashes at him dramatically. “I hadn’t really intended to tell you that I was from your future.” 

“What was your plan then?” I asked with a laugh. 

“Let you make your own conclusions,” he said as he pulled out his key to open the TARDIS for me. I thought about it for a few moments. 

“I don’t know if that would have worked too terribly well.” 

“What do you mean by that?” he asked with another quirked eyebrow. 

“I would have just asked more questions probably,” I said. He laughed lightly. 

“Try the middle right corner in the wardrobe,” he suggested. 

“I’m still not sure how you can have a middle corner, but thanks,” I said as I wandered to where the wardrobe had been the last time I’d gone looking for it. I dug out a few options and held each one in front of me in the mirror, watching the TARDIS give her opinion as she raised or lowered the lights whether she liked the dress or not. 

“I don’t really know if green is my colour or not,” I said as I held up the final pick in front of me and tilted my head to the side. It was perfect for the time period and would fit me like a dream, but I was still hesitant about the pale green colour. The TARDIS vibrated the floor under my feet gently. 

“Yeah okay I’ll trust you,” I said and quickly changed. When I turned around there was a pair of matching shoes sitting next to the door. I patted the wall gently in thanks as I scooped them up before heading back to the console room. 

“What do you think?” I asked and gave a quick spin in front of the Doctor. He smiled widely at me. 

“You look absolutely lovely,” he said. I fussed with the hem a tiny bit. 

“I’m not sure it’s my colour,” I admitted. He reached out and cupped my face in his hand. 

“It brings out your eyes perfectly,” he said, and I blushed. 

“Thanks.” I planted my hand on his shoulder to hold myself steady as I slipped my shoes on. “I just want you to know that I think it’s very funny that you and Al Capone practically had matching suits.” 

“It’s not my fault pinstripes fell out of fashion,” he said, while adjusting his jacket and I laughed. 

“Somehow I think this is the only case of your clothing being fashionable at some point,” I said as we headed for the door again. 

“I wore a leather jacket before this I’ll have you know,” he said. I raised an eyebrow up at him. 

“And before that?” I asked, and he frowned slightly. 

“I fit in very well with the Edwardian crowd,” he said. I thought about it for a few moments. 

“I suppose that technically counts,” I said, and he laughed. 

“Remind me to show you some pictures of my fashion disasters,” he said, and I beamed at him. 

“Deal. By the way what are you going to do to keep yourself entertained while I’m hanging out with Lola?” I asked. He shrugged. 

“I’ve heard that the rum runners here use an intricate tunnel system, so I thought I might explore those for a little bit,” he said. 

“It is definitely your turn to go walking around underground,” I said. He laughed and nudged my shoulder with his. 

“I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I have a few dozen more dungeon crawls over you,” he said. 

“I’m sure you do. But I am only counting from when I started travelling with you, which means I have quite a few over you,” I said. He raised his eyebrow up at me teasingly. 

“Oh, is that where we’re counting from?” He asked, and I nodded. 

“It is indeed.” He chuckled and leaned over to sweep a kiss across my temple. I thought about commenting on the lack of brilliance but decided I didn’t care. “Just try to keep yourself contained.” 

“Emma, whatever do you mean by that?” The Doctor asked with faux offence in his tone. I grinned. 

“I’m not sure a town of this size is ready to handle you full force,” I said, and he laughed as we slowed to a stop outside the door that Jimmy had pointed out to us earlier. 

“Do you have your phone with you?” He asked, and I nodded. 

“For the sake of my modesty, don’t ask where,” I said. My phone wasn’t anywhere too scandalous, but it might get a little bit weird if he asked me to fish it out right here in the street. Or if my chest started ringing at some point. 

“Noted,” the Doctor said with a slightly pale face. I patted him on the shoulder gently in support. 

“Hey, do you think it would mess up the timeline of human history too much if we convinced every single clothing designer to put pockets into dresses?” The Doctor gave me a funny look. “Actually, just pockets into female clothes in general?” 

“It’s not something I’ve ever considered,” he said like he was trying to decide whether or not he wanted to laugh. 

“It’s a serious problem,” I said. He laughed slightly before he tried to force himself back to seriousness. I quirked an eyebrow up at him. 

“Sorry you just had the most adorable frown I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. “Promise me you’ll be careful.” 

“I’m sorry which one of us is going wandering around in tunnels that rum runners use?” I asked. 

“We haven’t had the best of luck when we separate,” the Doctor pointed out and I nodded. 

“Fair point.” I crossed my heart. “I promise to be careful.” 

“Thank you, Emma.” The Doctor said and copied my hand motion. “I promise to be careful.” I waved him off down the street and pushed the door open to a little general store. An older man looked up at me from behind the counter. 

“I’m supposed to ask for Lola,” I said, suddenly feeling awkward. He nodded and jerked his thumb at the stairs in the corner. 

“First door on the right.” I nodded and thanked him as he ducked back down behind the counter. The stairs were narrower than I had expected so I took them a little slower than normal until I found the door that I’d been directed towards. 

“Thank goodness you’re here,” Lola said as she embraced me like we were old friends. 

“Sorry it took so long,” I said as I looked past her into the room and saw two men sitting on her chaise longue. I suddenly had a bad feeling about this and I was really hoping that I was going to be wrong, because otherwise the Doctor was going to murder me.


	3. Chapter 3

“Our apologies Miss Radwinski, we didn’t realize that your guest was on her way,” one of the men said and Lola pinked up in anger. 

“I did try to tell you,” she said just as the other man spoke. 

“We’ll get out of your hair.” They both smoothly stood up and tipped their hats at us as they filed out of the room. Lola shut the door fiercely and locked it behind them. I waited until I had heard them go all the way down the stairs before I turned to her. 

“What just happened?” I asked. 

“They’re detectives from America looking for Al. One of the ladies at the church told them to ask me about him,” she said, and I realized that it was the second part she was most angry about. 

“Are you okay?” I asked, and she gave me a look. 

“I’m angry. Just because I’m Jewish and I spend my time with Al doesn’t make me any less than them,” she said as she thumped around the room. 

“I meant physically. Personally, I think you have every right to be angry,” I said, and her shoulders drooped slightly. 

“Sorry it just hasn’t been easy since my folks died.” I nodded in sympathy. 

“I get it,” I said, and she looked up at me, studying me carefully before she must have seen the truth in my words. I wasn’t sure how, but anyone who had ever lost parents could identify each other without really needing to say it out loud. 

“I don’t know what I’m going to do when Al leaves,” she said softly as she flumped down on the chaise. I sat next to her. “He’s going to have to if the pigs are sniffing around here.” 

“You could go with him,” I suggested, and she shook her head. 

“He’s got other girls there. I don’t want to have to compete,” she said and sighed deeply. “I don’t want to stay here though.” 

“You could go somewhere else,” I said, and she scoffed slightly. 

“Where?” I shrugged. 

“Anywhere.” She gave me another look. “Really all you need to do is pick a place and go.” 

“I’ve got family in Winnipeg,” she said slowly, and I smiled. 

“That sounds like a perfect jumping off point to anywhere,” I said, and she laughed. 

“I know that you’re a world traveler, but I just want to properly settle in somewhere,” she said. I gave her another smile and reached over to squeeze her hand. 

“Then that sounds like a great place to settle in.” She smiled up at me before she reached up and quickly swiped away a few tears. 

“We’d best be getting ready,” she said and reached up to move my hair around slightly, like she was considering and discarding different styles in her head. “We wouldn’t want to be late.” 

“No, we definitely wouldn’t,” I agreed and let her pull me towards a chair in front of a vanity. She hummed a song under her breath as she carefully ran a comb through my curls and started pinning them to one side. I wasn’t sure what look she was going for, but I decided to trust her because I was certainly out of my depth. 

“There,” Lola said a few minutes after I’d let my eyes slip shut. I opened them and saw that she had dragged all my curls to one side of my head so that they all rested in a wild mess just behind my right ear. Somehow it made me look a little mysterious. 

“Lola you’ve outdone yourself,” I said, and she smiled sweetly while fluffing a few more curls. 

“Your hair did most of it,” she said. “I’d kill to have natural curls like this.” 

“They’re deceptively irritating,” I said, and she laughed. 

“Isn’t that how it always is?” I laughed as well. She gave one of my curls another gentle fluff. “My mother had curly hair.” 

“I got mine from my grandmother, I think. Don’t ask me which one though, my parents could never agree,” I said with a smile. She gave me a smile before bending over slightly and wrapping her arms around my shoulders in a quick hug. 

“Let’s head downstairs,” she said as she drew away and I got up after her and followed her down the stairs. The old man was gone from the front counter and Lola gave the street a discreet sweep once we stepped out. She was probably looking for the two American agents, so I helpfully scanned the street as well even though I hadn’t gotten a very good look at them. 

“You Brits don’t have Prohibition, do you?” Lola asked, and I shook my head. 

“We don’t. It would never pass parliament. Too many upper-class snobs,” I said, and Lola laughed. 

“I can imagine.” We approached a door and Lola gave another quick glance over both shoulders before she gave a complicated knock and the door slid open slightly. Lola flashed them a dazzling smile and the door opened all the way. She sashayed through the door and pulled me in along behind her. “Don’t worry Sammy she’s with me.” 

“He seems nice,” I said as I carefully skirted the frowning, gargantuan man and wondered idly if he was the same Sammy that had alerted Al about our police box. 

“He does his job,” Lola said, and I raised my eyebrow. 

“I hope intimidation is his job because he does a very good job.” Lola laughed and waved to Al over the crowd. I followed her as she made her way towards him because I hadn’t seen the Doctor yet and took the drink that Lola handed me that she had acquired from somewhere without protest. I took a sip and coughed immediately at the strength of it. 

“I knew the liquor would kill you,” the Doctor said dryly from next to me as he patted my back gently and pulled the glass out of my hand. 

“It certainly put up a good attempt,” I said roughly. The Doctor held out another glass to me. 

“Water I swear.” I took a grateful sip. “You look breathtaking by the way.” 

“You’re just saying that because I managed to stay out of trouble,” I said, and he laughed. 

“Only partly,” he said as he leaned to sweep a kiss over my temple. I sent him a sideways look while I took another sip of water. 

“You’re getting pretty loose with those brilliance kisses,” I noted. He smiled at me. 

“Maybe I am,” he said with an eyebrow raise. I smiled as well and decided that I wouldn’t put up a fuss about it since they were lovely to receive. “Al looks serious.” 

“Mhm. Two American’s were asking Lola about him when I got to her room,” I said, and the Doctor frowned down at me. 

“I thought that you said you stayed out of trouble,” he said. I shrugged. 

“They left the instant I got there, so I don’t think it counts as being in trouble,” I said. 

“Who’s playing fast and loose with the rules now?” He asked, and I beamed at him. 

“Me,” I said and pointed a finger at my chest. He laughed just as Lola came back. 

“Emma would you mind dancing with me for a moment?” Lola asked, and I shook my head as I handed the Doctor his glass back. 

“I’d love to.” She led me out to the middle of the dance floor and we danced the jitterbug together. I was very rusty as it had been a long time since Dad and I had danced together in the living room. 

I wasn’t sure how long we had been dancing for when I looked up and realized that Al had disappeared, and I was about to ask Lola where he had gone when there was a tremendous crash from above us and everyone froze. 

“RAID!” Someone shouted just as there was another tremendous crash and a few dozen policemen spilled into the room, guns drawn. Everyone scattered like ants and Lola shoved me hard towards a wall. 

“Go!” She cried, and we took off as I threw a glance over my shoulder to see if the Doctor was okay. I caught sight of him whipping his head around desperately. 

“Emma!” He called as his eyes landed on me just as Lola had opened a secret door and ushered me through. 

“TARDIS!” I called back as the door closed between us and I jumped as a gun went off. “Shit he is going to panic so much.” 

“It’ll be worse if we get arrested,” Lola said as we started jogging through the tunnel as fast as we could manage in our shoes. I could still hear shouts and loud thuds echoing behind us. 

“Do you think they’ll break down the walls?” I asked, even though I was sure I didn’t want to know the answer. Lola went pale and grabbed my hand. 

“I don’t know,” she said, and I couldn’t tell which one of us had shuddered at her words. We kept going until I finally saw a light ahead of us that got brighter just as we reached it as Al swung the door open and held out a hand to Lola. 

“Thank God Al,” Lola said as he lifted her out of the tunnel. I scrambled out after her without waiting for one of Al’s men to offer me a hand. 

“You alright Lola?” He asked, and she nodded as she threw her arms around him. 

“Just shaken.” Al looked up at me and I nodded as well. One of the men cleared his throat. 

“We need to go.” Lola pulled away from him. 

“You running for the border?” She asked, and he nodded. “I’m not coming.” 

“Lola-“ 

“No Al. I’m going to Winnipeg. I’ll be happy there,” she said. Al studied her for a moment before he nodded. 

“Let me take you as far as Regina.” Lola nodded in agreement to Al’s request before she turned slightly to look at me. 

“Don’t worry about me. Just go,” I said, and Lola hesitated. “I’m serious. I’ve got my own way out and I can’t leave without the Doctor. You guys go.” 

“Let’s go,” Al said after he had given me a nod and they all took off down the street. I wrapped my hand around my TARDIS key and studied the street to see if I could figure out which way I needed to go. The last thing I needed right now was to bump into a police officer coming out of a speakeasy that they had just raided, considering I was covered with dust from the tunnel. 

“I should have gotten the Doctor to put a reverse homing beacon in for me,” I muttered to myself as I set off in the direction that I was hoping was correct. I’d only made it about a block and a half before I slammed into the Doctor. 

“Emma!” He cried in relief as he steadied me, so I didn’t hit the ground. “You’re bleeding.” I looked down at my knee and realized that there was in fact blood trickling down my leg. 

“I must have cut it getting out of the tunnel. I was too impatient to wait for help,” I said, and he groaned as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. I held up a hand to stop him. “Is there any kind of historical significance to that handkerchief?” 

“None whatsoever,” he confirmed. I dropped my hand. 

“Carry on then.” He knelt down in front of me and carefully wrapped the handkerchief over my cut so that I wouldn’t keep bleeding down my leg before he fished out another one to wipe up the rest of the blood. 

“I’ll give it a proper patch job once we get back to the TARDIS,” he said after he finished and stood up. 

“So, I was going the right way?” I asked, and he rolled his eyes. 

“Emma your sense of direction is the worst,” he said, and I laughed. 

“Finally, something that you think is worse than my sense of self preservation,” I teased. 

“Well I wouldn’t go that far,” he said. 

“Hey!”


	4. Chapter 4

“Quick jump into the not too distant future,” the Doctor said, and I raised my eyebrow up at him. 

“I thought you tried to avoid that so that companions couldn’t get any spoilers,” I said, and the Doctor gave me a sort of sideways nod. 

“Well,” he drawled, and I raised both my eyebrows at him for good measure. He gave me a smile. “I trust that you will use your knowledge responsibly.” 

“I’m touched,” I said and rested my hand over my heart. “When are we going?” 

“2035.” 

“And the where?” I asked as I smiled at his enthusiasm. 

“New York. You’ll love the history of the city and I’m fairly certain that I’ve never been there in 2035,” he said. 

“The amount of confidence that you can exude when you say fairly certain is astonishing and admirable,” I said. 

“Just for that I won’t take you to see _Hamilton_ ,” he said. “Although really I should take you on opening night to give you the proper experience.” 

“What’s _Hamilton_?” I asked, and he made a motion like he was zipping his lips. 

“I’m not going to tell you because I just figured out what I’m giving you for your birthday,” he said. 

“What happened to 1920’s Paris? Did you give up already?” 

“I have not given up. 1920’s Paris was to apologize for our fight. Your birthday is going to be something else,” he said and tapped on the tip of my nose as he stepped back so I could do the landing. I’d mastered them at this point, but we’d gotten into a bit of a groove recently. 

“And do I get to plan for your birthday? Or have you reached such an age that you don’t celebrate anymore?” I teased, and he laughed. 

“Technically Time Lords don’t celebrate them, but I have had many a birthday shindig in the past,” he said before his smile dropped. “No one’s asked me about it in a very long time.” 

“I hope you realize that I’m now going to subject you to the biggest birthday party that you are willing to sit through,” I said, and he laughed again. 

“Shall we go, or do you want to stand here and bicker a bit more?” He asked, though there was a pleased flush to his skin. I beamed at him in satisfaction. 

“Why not both?” I asked and bounced towards the door. I paused to see if the Doctor would insist on going out first when he gestured towards the door. 

“No ladies first I insist,” he said, and I opened the door and stepped out. 

“Once again you seem to have nailed the time period and completely missed the city you were aiming for,” I said as I glanced around the round plastic hallway that I was standing in. The Doctor shut the door behind me, glanced around and groaned. 

“Although,” I said as I watched some kind of machine drive past the wall of the hallway. “I will say I was not expecting this.” 

“I really thought I had it this time,” he said with a pout. I patted his arm. 

“Being fifty percent right is still a passing grade.” 

“Barely,” he said. I shrugged at him. 

“Well I don’t know what to tell you. You should have plenty of practice under your belt.” I pressed my face against the plastic wall and peered out. “Are we underground?” 

“Most definitely,” he said as he pressed his face against the wall as well. “Must be on one of the Vulcan expeditions.” 

“What’s a Vulcan expedition?” I asked as I stepped away from the wall. 

“Apollo for moon, Vulcan for Earth,” the Doctor said. 

“And no one considered that Vulcan expedition sounds like something out of Star Trek?” I asked. The Doctor laughed. 

“Apparently not,” he said as he pointed his hands down either direction of the hallway and wiggled his eyebrows at me. I pursed my lips in thought. 

“So, a mining expedition?” I said as I tapped on his right hand and he nodded as we started walking down the part of the hallway the Doctor had been pointing to. 

“More or less. The world leaders decided that they should have a greater knowledge of everything Earth based before they started to spread through the stars,” he said. 

“That seems reasonable. I’m hoping that due to the time period it was a little less catastrophic than the space race.” 

“Such diplomatic phrasing,” he teased and laughed when I stuck my tongue out at him. “But yes, it was much less catastrophic. There were fourteen Vulcanic expeditions that ran simultaneously in various parts of the globe.” 

“Who ran it?” 

“UNIT,” he said. 

“Am I allowed to ask what the expeditions uncovered?” I asked, and he laughed again. 

“You are.” I waited several moments to see if he would respond without prompting but judging by the slightly manic grin on his face, I didn’t think he would, so I made a go on gesture. “Greater understanding of Earth’s rocks and minerals. A more efficient way to use geothermal energy.” 

“Cool,” I said just as we rounded a corner and came across six people, three of whom were holding guns. The Doctor and I both raised our hands immediately. “Not cool.” 

“Who are you? Where did you come from? What are you doing here?” A harsh looking middle-aged man barked, and the Doctor arched an eyebrow at him. 

“The Doctor and Emma. Over there. Exploring.” The Doctor gave all the guns a pointed look. “Now if you could either lower your guns or point them all at me please.” 

“We could split them sixty forty?” I offered because I didn’t really want all the guns pointed at the Doctor. He and the middle-aged man both sent me a look at the same time. I shrugged as a young woman popped up on her toes over everyone else’s shoulders. 

“Are you _The_ Doctor?” She asked, and the Doctor nodded slowly, and she squeaked in excitement before she darted around everyone in front of her and raced up to the Doctor to shake his hand. 

“Lower your guns.” I heard the middle-aged man say with a sigh as the woman continued to shake the Doctor’s hand enthusiastically. 

“Sorry, have we met?” The Doctor asked dazedly, and she shook her head as she dropped his hand. 

“No. I’m just a huge fan of your work, I’ve read all the case files that mention your name. I’m Justine, I’m the geologist here,” she said, and the Doctor beamed. 

“Pleasure to meet you,” he said. Justine turned to me and shook my hand as well, even though I didn’t think I deserved the enthusiasm she put behind it. 

“What do you do?” She asked, and I blushed slightly. 

“I studied history and now I travel with the Doctor,” I said. 

“Oh wow. I took a few history classes and enjoyed them. I wish I had enough passion to study it,” she said, and I could tell she was sincere, unlike some others I’d known over the course of my life who studied the hard sciences. 

“Humanities,” one of the gun holders said with a slight sneer. Justine rolled her eyes and shot him an angry look. 

“Shut up Paul,” she said just as the main man stepped forward and cleared his throat pointedly with a frown. The Doctor assessed him carefully, and from what I could see of the Doctor’s facial expression he was the kind of solider that the Doctor hated. 

“The Doctor has not interacted with UNIT in almost twelve years.” I glared at him because I did not like his condescending tone at all. 

“Well, it hasn’t been that long for me Major,” the Doctor replied lightly. He must have figured out his rank based on the stripes in his uniform. There were several tense silent moments before another woman stepped forward with a slight eye roll at the Major. 

“If you had read some previous case files you would recognize him from the pictures Major,” She said and nodded to each of us in a motherly way. I liked her already. “I’m Marishka the physicist here.” 

“Doctor what are you doing here?” the Major asked sharply. I decided I did not like him at all and judging by Marishka and Justine’s faces they weren’t exceptionally fond of him either. 

“Well honestly I didn’t expect to be here. I was aiming for New York to show Emma some American history,” he said and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. I patted him on the shoulder consolingly again. 

“And you decided to explore anyways?” the Major asked and Marishka rolled her eyes. 

“Honestly Major Campbell you’d think they were terrorists the way you’re interrogating them,” she snapped, and they quickly ducked their heads together as they started arguing quietly between themselves. The Doctor’s face dropped, and I tugged on his sleeve in question. 

“Justine, which Vulcan expedition is this?” He asked. 

“We’re number 10. We’re the deepest one,” she said, and the Doctor nodded in thanks. She smiled back at us before she pivoted to watch the Major and Marishka argue. 

“Tell me what’s happening.” I hissed under my breath. “You’ve got a weird look.” 

“Vulcan expedition number 10 goes down in history as one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of all time. The crew that was working was only a skeleton crew because it was a holiday and when the rest of the crew came back everyone except for the mechanical engineer Cecelia had completely vanished. No trace of them was ever found and Cecelia never breathed a word about it for the rest of her life.” I glanced over at the only other girl who hadn’t given her name, so she must have been Cecelia. She must have been close to my age, so what ever happened must have been truly awful for her to have never said anything until she died. 

“You don’t think that we’ve just stumbled right into the middle of what ever happened? Happens? Is happening?” I scrunched my face up in confusion. “Tenses get really weird when you travel through time.” 

“Major Frank Campbell, physicist Marishka Suranjay, chemical engineer Paul Johnson, mechanical engineer Cecilia Emmagen, IT specialist Christopher Smithe and geologist Justine Jaeb. They’re all here Emma, and it’s only them,” the Doctor said as he nodded towards each person in turn, looking more and more frazzled as he went along. I grabbed his hand. 

“Hey easy, what’s wrong?” I asked just as it hit me. He’d encountered a scenario almost exactly like this before on Mars and I definitely remembered how that had ended. 

“Let’s not panic,” I said, and the Doctor shot me a look which made me feel better because it made him look more like himself. 

“Emma, last time-“ I cut him off as quickly as I could. 

“Last time is not indicative of every time. And if you believed that you would have stopped travelling long ago. Is this fixed?” I asked, and he shook his head. 

“No.” 

“Are you one hundred percent sure that this is the right holiday skeleton crew?” 

“No.” I beamed at him. 

“There you go. This could be any other day and we are going to treat it as such,” I said, and the Doctor laughed before he leaned over and pressed a lingering kiss to my temple. 

“What would I do without you?” 

“You managed nine hundred years without me. I’m sure you developed some kind of coping mechanisms,” I said dryly, and he laughed again. 

“Well then I never want to learn how to do without you again,” he said, and I laughed as well while I rolled my eyes just as a memory of how the other Doctor had looked in the vision from the Face of Boe rose up. I hoped that Doctor, where ever he was, had learned. 

“What the Hell is that?” Christopher asked as an alarm started going off. 

“One of the drills has malfunctioned,” Cecilia said, and everyone started jogging down the hallway. The Doctor shot me a look as we hurried after them. 

“Perfectly normal day huh?” 

“Well we had no proof up until this moment.”


	5. Chapter 5

“How could one of the drills malfunctioned?” Christopher asked, and Cecelia shrugged dramatically. 

“I don’t know considering we just walked in the room. I do actually have to run diagnostic checks unlike your coding which is just winging it and a prayer half the time,” she said, and I laughed before I could stop myself. The Major and Paul both gave me harsh sideways looks. 

“Well they’re both sticks in the mud,” I said under my breath to the Doctor who sniggered before leaning over and giving me a playful shove. 

“Stop making me laugh, you’ll ruin my reputation.” 

“I didn’t think you had one of those,” I shot back, and he gasped in mock hurt and I laughed fully this time before I blushed as everyone turned to look at me. “Sorry.” 

“How often do the drills malfunction?” The Doctor asked while he pulled out his brainy specs and leaned over Christopher’s shoulder to look at the computer. 

“Not often, but then it’s not often we’re running on a skeleton crew because of a holiday,” he said, and the Doctor shot me a look over the frames of his glasses. I returned it and he winked at me. 

“Justine and Cecelia these readings are weird could you come have a look?” Marishka asked and Justine moved next to Marishka immediately while Cecelia’s head jerked up from her cell phone which she quickly slipped into her pocket. 

“Yeah sorry,” she said as she hurried across the room to Marishka’s side. The Major’s glare followed her the whole time. 

“Who were you communicating with?” He asked immediately, and Cecelia stiffened. I couldn’t quite tell if it was out of nerves or annoyance. 

“My Mom if you must know. She’s got a sixth sense about when things go a little bit wrong and it makes her nervous,” Cecelia said, tightly enough that I still wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not. 

“A soldier’s family gets used to it,” Major Campbell said and fell into parade rest. 

“Good thing she’s an engineer and not a soldier then Major Campbell,” I said in the best fake bright tone I could manage. The Doctor stood up from the data he’d been looking at to walk over to me and plant a firm kiss to my forehead before immediately going back to his data without a word. 

“She’s got you there Major,” Marishka said. 

“I’ve got the drill’s camera back online,” Cecelia called with a hand wave and we all hurried over to her computer. There was a tiny bit of static before the picture cleared and we could see the sprawling underground city that looked vaguely familiar to me somehow. 

“Major did you do ground scans before you built this base and started drilling?” the Doctor asked casually. 

“We met UNIT’s qualifications when we picked this site,” he said, and I raised my eyebrow up at him, because that sounded like a deliberate non-answer. The Doctor must have agreed because he turned to look at all the scientists with a questioning look. 

“They were done before we arrived,” Paul said with a shrug. The Doctor grumbled something under his breath that I didn’t quite catch. 

“Doctor do you know what we’re looking at?” the Major asked just as a lizard person ducked into the picture of the drill. I jumped despite myself and the Doctor rested a steadying hand on the small of my back as the picture dissolved back into static. 

“ _Homo Reptilia_ ,” the Doctor said, and I frowned in confusion. 

“That’s not what they looked like last time.” Slarnix had been much more turtle like with round, smooth features and brown coloured, whereas these people were definitely lizards with sharper lines, more scaly and bright green. 

“They’re cousins of the last _Homo Reptilia_ we bumped into. These ones aren’t amphibious, so they live solely on the land. UNIT refers to them as Silurians.” 

“Oh, I recognize that name,” I said. It was another story that my uncle had told me growing up. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at me. 

“Remind me to ask you about that.” 

“What is a Silurian?” the Major asked and Justine rolled her eyes. 

“You really haven’t read any case files, have you?” She asked, and the Doctor rubbed the back of his head while the Major flushed angrily. 

“Those files are quite old by your standards. And the dating protocol for filing got a bit messy as well.” 

“I’m sure you had nothing to do with that,” I said, and he winked at me. 

“It wasn’t my fault.” 

“Maybe someday I’ll believe it when you say that.” He flashed me a look of mock hurt and I laughed. 

“Doctor would you mind telling the rest of us what a Silurian is?” Marishka asked. The Doctor quickly launched into his spiel while I wandered over to stand next to Cecelia. 

“You didn’t jump when the Silurian appeared on screen. And I’m pretty sure that you’ve heard this before though you’re doing a very good job pretending it’s your first time,” I said casually and quietly, and she flashed me an alarmed look. 

“How did you know?” 

“I’m good at reading people.” It looked like she was about to panic so I placed my hand on her arm. “Cecelia is going to show me where the bathroom is. We’ll be right back.” 

No one put up much of a fuss beyond the Doctor giving me a little wave, so I pulled Cecelia out into the hall and gestured for her to take the lead. We walked in silence until we entered the bathroom and I locked the door behind us. 

“So, tell me everything,” I said as I pulled myself up to sit on the counter. She fidgeted slightly before her shoulder slumped and she caved. 

“I went out to get a sample and I stumbled upon Vax. He was hurt because one of the drills had damaged his hibernation pod. I brought him medical supplies and stuff and he told me about when and where he had come from,” She said as she played with the hem of her shirt. 

“I’m surprised he trusted you,” I said, because I remembered the Doctor strongly implying that humans and _Homo Reptilia_ didn’t often get off on the right foot. Cecelia smiled. 

“He didn’t at first. I had to prove that nothing was deadly or poisonous every time I brought something new, but after a while I guess he just got a sense of my character.” She blushed slightly and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. I tipped my head to the side as I studied her carefully. 

“You’re in love with him.” She blushed harder. 

“Oh God am I that obvious?” She asked as she fanned her face heavily and I laughed. 

“No. Like I said I’m good at reading people.” My therapist had said it was a defense mechanism, one that I would probably never unlearn. 

“Vax is really sweet,” she murmured. 

“Was Vax the one on the video?” I asked, and she shook her head with a frown. 

“No, it wasn’t, but that doesn’t make any sense because Vax said everyone else was still in hibernation.” I was starting to have a slight sense of déjà vu. 

“Could another one of the drills damaged another hibernation pod?” I asked, and she bit her lip. 

“Maybe, but Vax would have told me,” she said. 

“I’m guessing that that’s who you were actually messaging on your cell phone earlier?” She blushed again and nodded. 

“I slipped him a burner phone so that we could communicate with each other. It’s not very often I can slip away and see him in person,” she said, and I smiled. 

“It sounds like a really sweet story. And it is safe with me,” I said, and she threw her arms around me tightly. 

“Thank you. It’s complicated,” she said. I laughed as I hopped off the counter and headed for the door. 

“Just like almost everything else in my life,” I said and opened the door to find the Doctor leaning against the wall next to the door. I raised my eyebrows up at him. 

“The Major banished me until he can confirm my credentials. He’s a bit gruff,” he said. 

“I’m pretty sure that you’re allowed to say you don’t like him,” I said, and the Doctor laughed. 

“Believe it or not I do actually try not to be rude to people on occasion,” he said. Cecelia clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh and the Doctor peered at her curiously. 

“There’s a wedding mark on the back of your hand,” he said, and Cecelia’s eyes went wide so I twisted to look at her hand, which was smooth and unblemished. 

“There’s nothing on the back of her hand.” I double checked her other hand quickly just to be sure. The Doctor held out one of his hands while he dug out the screwdriver. 

“May I?” He asked, and Cecelia nodded slowly as she placed her hand in his extended one. The Doctor turned the sonic on and waved it over the back of her hand and a sweeping design appeared like it was a stamp from a club reacting to a UV light. 

“It’s lovely,” I said, and Cecelia flushed in pleasure. 

“Very old fashioned even by _Homo Reptilia_ standards,” the Doctor said, and I was glad that he had figured it out so that I didn’t have to break my promise to Cecelia not to tell people. 

“Vax said that it was the only way to marry us without anyone knowing.” She must have realized what that sounded like because she straightened her shoulders. “Not that either of us are ashamed. It’s just-“ 

“Complicated,” I said when she trailed off and she nodded. 

“Doctor,” Major Campbell called from down the hall and the Doctor smiled at him. 

“Confirmed my credentials have you then Major?” I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes at his antagonistic tone. 

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” He gave me a wink, which I took as a yes. 

“I also took the liberty of reading the case files on the Silurians,” the Major said once we had walked up to him. 

“I’m so pleased for you Major,” the Doctor said as he slid past him to enter the room. I bit my lip to hold in my laughter at the look of absolute astonishment on Major Campbell’s face as I slid past him as well. 

“Doctor I need expertise to combat against this threat,” Major Campbell said, and the Doctor dead stopped in the middle of the room to face him. I realized that I’d been absolutely right when I guessed that the Major was going to be the kind of solider the Doctor absolutely hated. 

“The Silurians are not a threat,” the Doctor said firmly. 

“I’m sorry has diplomacy attempts gone the way of the dinosaurs? I was under the impression that UNIT’s directives were to ascertain if aid was required, followed by attempts to parlay and only then were things perceived to be a threat,” I said with an eyebrow raise. The Major’s face twisted as the Doctor smiled at me in a way that proved that I was in the right. 

“And how do you know so much about UNIT’s directives?” Major Campbell asked. 

“As one of my dear relatives would say if he were here, Science Leads, Major Campbell,” I said, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow up at me. 

“Remind me to ask you about that,” he said just as the Major’s radio crackled. 

“Major is Christopher with you?” Paul asked. 

“No, he is not. Christopher report your location.” Major Campbell lifted his fingers off the button of his radio, and we all listened to static for several minutes. “Christopher report your location.” 

“And behold,” the Doctor whispered, and I nudged him. 

“Don’t get smart with me,” I muttered back as the Major lifted his hand away from the radio again after Christopher hadn’t answered again. 

“Not a threat, Doctor?” The Major said with an odd glint in his eyes. 

“Perhaps he slipped on the floor?” I suggested lightly and tossed my hair over my shoulder. The Doctor laughed sharply like he couldn’t help himself. 

“Who’s being rude now?” He asked under his breath and I flashed him my brightest smile. 

“Me. It’s absolutely me.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Show me Christopher’s last known location,” the Major ordered as soon as he stormed back into the main control room. Marishka threw her hands up in the air in what looked like exasperation. 

“And how would you like me to do that now that we’ve lost track of our IT specialist?” Marishka asked and the Doctor stepped forward smoothly as he pulled his sonic out of his pocket and scanned it over one of the monitors in the centre of the room. 

“There’s a start,” the Doctor said as a holographic map appeared over the table. I grinned. 

“Holographs are still cool. So, is this Vulcan expedition ten?” I asked and gestured at the series of hallways and rooms hovering in front of my face. 

“It is and if we expand the reach just a touch,” the Doctor said and soniced the table a little more until the Vulcan expedition part of the map shrunk and another larger series of tunnels appeared next to it. “We can see the _Homo Reptilia_ village.” 

“Holy shit. It’s huge,” Justine said from beside me. 

“Definitely big enough to have been seen by UNIT’s preliminary scans,” I said while I circled my finger around it. I saw the Major bristle out of the corner of my eye as the Doctor smiled at me and winked. 

“How is this supposed to help us find Christopher?” Major Campbell asked. 

“Tetchy,” I said, and the Doctor laughed before turning on the sonic again. 

“There we go. Every person who is awake,” the Doctor said as ten blinking dots appeared with seven of them clustered in a room. I assumed that was us and that the other three dots were Christopher, Vax and our other _Homo Reptilian_ friend. 

“There’s too many dots,” Paul said, and Cecelia glared at him. 

“The Doctor said every person who is awake. Just because the Homo Reptilia aren’t human doesn’t mean they aren’t people,” Cecelia snapped. I grinned. 

”Took the words right out of my mouth,” I said, and the Doctor dropped a quick kiss to my temple. 

“No, but we only saw one of the Silurians on the video, so there should only be nine dots, but there’s ten,” Paul said. The Major frowned and leaned in towards the map like he was trying to glare one of the dots into non-existence. 

“Why would there be more than one out of hibernation?” The Major asked and I rolled my eyes. 

“We don’t even know why the one that was on video was out of hibernation. There is literally no reason to assume that what caused one awakening didn’t cause another awakening,” I said, and the Doctor dropped another kiss to my temple. 

“You’re utterly brilliant,” he said. I felt like that one was a little undeserved since, while my logic was probably true, I’d made that up on the spot so that we didn’t have to worry about Vax yet. 

“The real question is why Christopher isn’t answering the radio,” Marishka said as she pointed at his dot. “He’s well within the radio’s range and neither of the Silurians are near him.” 

“Then I suppose we should go check on him,” the Doctor said and we both stepped away from the table only to be stopped by Major Campbell. “You’re welcome to come along Major.” 

“Emma will be staying here,” Major Campbell said, and I planted my hands on my hips and raised my eyebrow up at him. 

“Oh, I will, will I?” I asked and the Major nodded tersely. 

“I don’t trust either of you and I believe it will be less of a risk if I keep you separated. Emma will be remaining here as she doesn’t have capacity to alter any of our technology.” I took an angry step forward at that and the Doctor caught my arm before I could swing my fist into the Major’s face. 

“Kicking his ass is justified,” I hissed through my teeth as the Doctor dragged me a few steps away. 

“It is Emma, it definitely is, but if you punch him he’ll have you thrown in whatever holding cell he can throw together and I don’t want that for you,” the Doctor said as he gently pulled me to face him. I frowned at him before I crossed my arms in defeat. 

“Fine.” The Doctor smiled at me and leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. 

“Thank you. Your restraint is noted and appreciated,” he said, and I over dramatically flopped into a chair. 

“Good. I would hate for my sacrifices to go unappreciated,” I said which made Cecelia and the Doctor laugh before the Doctor sobered as he faced the Major. 

“If you say something like that again Emma won’t get the chance to punch you.” I blinked in surprised delight at the Doctor’s threat and the Major looked between the two of us before he nodded stiffly and spun on his heel to leave the room after he had waved at Justine to join them. The Doctor gave me one last glance and followed Major Campbell after I gave him a thumbs up. 

“Apparently he’s a great tactician, but Major Campbell is absolutely terrible with people,” Marishka said comfortingly. 

“Not that there’s been much opportunity for him to show off his tactics here,” Cecelia said. 

“Personally, I hope that continues,” I said as I rolled back and forth on my chair to entertain myself and bumped into Paul who was standing right behind me. “Oh, hello I didn’t see you there. Are you here to make sure I don’t touch anything?” 

“No,” Paul said hesitantly. 

“Very convincing Paul,” Cecelia said, and I rolled my chair closer to hers slightly before my phone rang and I dug it out of my pocket and answered it. 

“Hello,” I said. 

“Just checking in,” the Doctor said lightly, and I laughed. 

“I’m supposed to be the one with abandonment issues Doctor,” I teased, and he laughed. 

“I would hate to lose track of you,” he said. I reached up to play with my key idly. 

“You do remember that you gifted me a homing beacon, right? Anywhere any when, remember?” I asked before my eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Or are you phoning to antagonize the Major?” 

“Emma sometimes I think you know me too well,” the Doctor said, and Cecelia chuckled slightly. I spun in my chair so that I could follow their progress towards Christopher on the map. 

“Flatterer,” I said, and the Doctor laughed. I watched them take a corner before they stopped. 

“Well that’s different,” the Doctor said. 

“Oh?” I asked. 

“Christopher is facing the corner of the room and he’s just standing there. He almost looks hypnotized,” the Doctor said, and I heard the Major’s voice though I couldn’t make out his words. “No, I wouldn’t touch him Major.” 

“Almost?” I asked. I really hated the fact that I couldn’t see what the Doctor was seeing, I knew it wouldn’t make a difference about me knowing anything, but it would make me feel a little bit more in the loop. 

“Hard to describe,” he said, and I sighed. 

“Of course, it is.” Cecelia nudged me and I looked at her and she pointed to the map. I shifted my gaze up at it and realized the two dots to represent the _Homo Reptilia_ were moving towards the Vulcan Ten part of the map. “Well that’s probably not good.” 

“What’s not good?” The Doctor asked instantly in concern, even though he’d been mid conversation with the Major. I stood up to double check that the _Homo Reptilia_ were in fact headed towards us and that I hadn’t just misjudged the depth of the map. 

“The _Homo Reptilia_ are heading towards us,” I said as calmly as I could manage, and Paul walked over to the other side of the room and picked up his rifle. “And Paul has a gun.” 

“Tell him to put the gun away,” the Doctor ordered, and I heard a brief scuffle on the other end of the phone as I pulled it away from my ear slightly. 

“Put the gun away Paul,” I said, and he shook his head. I noticed that his hands were trembling and that did not fill me with confidence. 

“What if I need it? To defend you?” Paul asked and Cecelia, Marishka and I all rolled our eyes in tandem. 

“I think you’ll find that it’s not 1840 Paul and we won’t need defending unless you shoot first,” I said as I moved the phone next to my ear properly again and heard what sounded like a bit of a fight on the other end. “Doctor what on Earth are you doing?” 

“Christopher is under the impression that the _Homo Reptilia_ are gods returned from a forgotten age and they require a sacrifice from their loyal acolyte to fully regain their powers,” the Doctor said. I could hear the tension in his voice, and I bit my lip worriedly. 

“Okay you sound busy so I’m going to call you back later,” I said and hung up over the Doctor’s noises of protest. I turned the volume off so that I could justify not answering him when he inevitably called me back in two seconds before I shoved it back in my pocket and flattened my hands against the map and looked at the two dots. 

“Paul please put the gun away. We are going to operate diplomatically,” I said, and he looked at me in shock. He was alarmingly pale and if I hadn’t been concerned about the gun in his shaking hands, I would have suggested that he sit down before he passed out. 

“Paul please put the gun away,” Marishka said placatingly with her hands extended towards him. Paul looked at her with a little bit of wild terror in his eyes. 

“Major Campbell said I need to keep you safe,” Paul said and Marishka gave him a shaky smile. I was starting to feel better about the fact that everyone was as nervous about Paul as I was. 

“You’re shaking like a leaf. You’re not a solider and asking you to be one is not the Major’s job,” Marishka said and I breathed a small sigh of relief as Paul wordlessly handed the gun over before collapsing in the chair behind him. I took a quick glance at the map and my stomach dropped as I realized that one dot had disappeared from the map where the Doctor had been. 

“Okay it looks like we have a few minutes because the _Homo Reptilians_ have stopped moving. Let’s go rendezvous with everyone else,” I said and Cecelia bit down on her lip worriedly and rubbed the back of her hand. 

“I think it would be better if they met us here,” Marishka said and for the first time I could hear fear leaking into her voice. I realized that she had counted the dots on the map as well and took a deep breath as I dug my phone out of my pocket and called the Doctor back. 

“Never do that again,” he said as soon as he answered on the second ring. I smiled weakly. 

“Sorry I couldn’t concentrate,” I said as a tiny bit of tension eased out of my shoulders. 

“Everyone all right over there?” he asked. 

“Paul’s probably on the brink of a breakdown, but yeah we’re all okay.” I swallowed carefully and wrapped an arm around myself. “What happened?” 

“Christopher tried to attack Justine and the Major reacted,” he said, and I flinched at his implication. “We’re going to make our way back to you. Is it clear?” 

“Yeah the _Homo Reptilians_ stopped a few floors away from us. I don’t know why, but I’ll take it.” I inhaled and paused at the fact that my lungs suddenly felt very tight, like they did whenever I was having a panic attack. Which didn’t make any sense because I wasn’t having a panic attack as far as I knew. “Doctor something’s wrong.” 

“What do you mean? What is it?” I watched one dot suddenly start moving away from the others on the map and felt a tiny hint of relief. 

“My lungs feel tight like when I have a panic attack, but I don’t feel like I’m having a panic attack,” I said and rubbed my chest idly. “I’m not hyperventilating, am I?” 

“No. Can’t you tell?” He asked. 

“I didn’t think so, but I figured it would be better to ask.” Suddenly Paul shouted and I jerked my head to him to see him dive for the gun that was still in Marishka’s hands. Marishka and Paul started fighting for the gun and I grabbed Cecelia by the shoulders and shoved her to the ground on the opposite side of the console from the other two. Our knees hit the ground at the same time the gun fired, and Cecelia screamed at the sound of someone hitting the floor. I took several choked breaths to make sure I didn’t actually have a panic attack. 

“EMMA!” I realized that I had dropped my phone when I heard the Doctor’s tinny bellow coming from my right. I took one final deep breath and scooped the phone up as I stood up from the floor and swallowed at Marishka lying on the floor. 

“Sorry again Doctor. I dropped my phone,” I said just as the Doctor came skidding into the room. He looked between me, Paul and Marishka in a millisecond before he was sweeping me up off my feet in a crushing hug. 

“Jesus Christ Emma you scared a hundred years off me.” He set me down and cupped my face. “Are you alright?” 

“Probably bruised my knees on the floor honestly,” I said with a weak smile and he hugged me again before he smoothly removed his overcoat and laid it over Marishka. He took a few more steps and knelt down next to Paul who had pressed himself into a crouch in the corner. 

“Are you okay?” I asked as I helped Cecelia up off the floor and she shook her head desperately with her eyes locked on Marishka. 

“No,” Cecelia said as shocked tears started to spill down her cheeks. 

“I meant physically, did you get hurt when we hit the floor?” I asked and Cecelia shook her head, so I lead her into a chair as the Major and Justine entered the room. Justine gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth as the Major’s steps stuttered and a brief flash of pain crossed his face. 

“Doctor, Emma leave this room immediately,” he ordered, and I raised my eyebrow up at him. 

“First he wants us separated and then he wants us together. He really needs to make up his mind,” I muttered under my breath and Cecelia gave a disjointed laugh in between her sobs. Justine knelt next to Cecelia and grabbed her hand gently. 

“Major you cannot really think that Emma is the one who caused this,” the Doctor said as he sprung up to his feet with an incredulous look on his face and I had either missed the Major’s implication or the Doctor was leaping to conclusions. 

“I have no proof that she didn’t,” Major Campbell said and the Doctor’s face darkened. 

“It was Paul,” Cecelia said in between her slowing sobs. “He was trying to get the gun back from Marishka. She told him to give it to her because he was shaking so badly that we thought he would shoot one of us by accident.” 

“I’d still like to get Paul’s version of events,” Major Campbell said, and I sighed deeply in exasperation. 

“I’ll go stand in the hallway then if that will make you feel more secure Major,” I said pointedly before I spun on my heel and headed for the door. The Doctor jogged up next to me and held the door open for me. As soon as the door fell shut behind us, I folded in half, pressed my hands into my knees and took a few desperate breaths. 

“Easy Emma easy,” the Doctor soothed as he reached over to rub my back. 

“I’d apologize, but I feel like you wouldn’t accept it,” I said as I gasped slightly and locked my elbows to stop them from quaking. I was pretty sure that it was due to the adrenaline that had come and gone in such a brief span of time, but still decided to try and keep it contained. 

“You’re right I wouldn’t. Do you want to sit down?” He asked and I shook my head. 

“There weren’t supposed to be bodies were there?” I asked as I tipped my head up so that I could look at him and realized that he had knelt down in front of me at some point. He shook his head. 

“So that means that something’s changed,” I said, and he nodded. “Probably nothing good?” 

“I doubt it,” he said. 

“I need you to just put a pin in your upcoming martyr trip because I am not currently in the place to talk you out of it. Give me like two minutes,” I said, and he laughed. 

“Martyr trip?” He repeated and I nodded. 

“One of your favourite pass times is making things your fault. Phrased like that I suppose that martyr trip probably wasn’t the proper word choice, but I am trying my best,” I said, and he laughed again as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. 

“What happened?” He asked and I took a deep breath. 

“Paul grabbed the gun from some cabinet somewhere when we noticed that the Homo Reptilia were moving towards us and he was shaking so bad that I had very serious concerns he was going to drop it. That’s when I hung up on you. Marishka got him to give the gun to her, and then I called you back and then suddenly he just dove for the gun again and he and Marishka struggled for it and I shoved Cecelia onto the floor with me which is when I dropped the phone and the gun went off,” I said slowly. The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut tightly before he pressed another lingering kiss to my forehead. 

“I know I said this before, but never ever do that again Emma Bradley,” he said. 

“Hang up on you?” I said teasingly and he gave me a look. 

“Hang up on me immediately after telling me that someone in the same room as you has a gun,” he said and I smiled. 

“I needed to think,” I said. 

“You said that your lungs felt tight,” he said like he had just remembered, and I nodded. 

“Yeah that was weird. It was right before Paul went for the gun again. It just suddenly felt like I was about to have a panic attack, but I wasn’t panicking about anything.” 

“Did anyone besides you and Paul have a similar reaction?” He asked and I could tell that there was a bit of a theory cooking in his brain. 

“Marishka sounded scared. It was the first time I’d heard her sound like that.” I swallowed and pushed up on my knees to stand upright. The Doctor followed me up out of his crouch without a word. “What are you thinking?” 

“The _Homo Reptilia_ might have piped a chemical weapon through to the control room. It could have affected your fear receptors, which would explain why it felt like you were having a panic attack even though you weren’t,” he said, and I bit my lip as he ran a hand over his face. 

“Which means that they technically attacked first, which would give the Major the legibility to respond with hostility,” I said, and the Doctor nodded worriedly. “But how would they have accessed the ventilation system?” 

“Christopher might have told them while he was out of sight from us,” he said just as the lights went out over us and it sounded like the generators quit running. 

“Great,” I said grumpily. It wasn’t very long after that that the Major stuck his head out the door. I sent him a look, because I was pretty sure that he was about to accuse us of doing something, but instead he just waved us back in the room. I stood by Cecelia again and rested my hand on her shoulder as the Doctor and the Major stared at each other in the middle of the room. 

“Once again I request your aid in fighting the threat that these Silurians present to this expedition. As they have attacked us first by affecting our life support systems, I am well within my rights as UNIT’s representative to respond with hostility,” the Major said in what I was pretty sure that he thought was a reasonable tone. 

“Have you considered not responding with hostility?” the Doctor asked genially with an eyebrow raise. I thought it was good of him to try, but I also was pretty sure that the Major was not going to back down from this. 

“They have quadrupled their numbers since you exited the room. They could have further increased their numbers and we have no way to confirm that since we have lost power,” Major Campbell said, and I tilted my head to one side. 

“You mean when you kicked us out?” I asked with as much fake innocence as I could muster. The Doctor shot me a sideways look of mixed amusement and exasperation while the Major just gave me a look full of disdain before turning all his attention back to the Doctor. 

“You will assist us,” the Major said firmly and both of the Doctor’s eyebrows went up. 

“Is that so?” He asked. The Major pulled out his sidearm and pointed it at me and undid the safety. 

“Yes.” I looked between Major Campbell, the gun and the Doctor before I sighed loudly and lifted my hands in the air slightly. 

“I don’t know if I’ve said this out loud before, but being a hostage sucks,” I said.


	7. Chapter 7

“Major you can’t be serious!” Justine cried as soon as Major Campbell had explained his plan to lure and ambush the Silurians in one of the lower tunnels. I was against this plan for two reasons; the first because I wasn’t a fan of violence and the second because I was the bait and judging by the Doctor’s expression he agreed very strongly with Justine and I. 

“It’s a good move,” Paul said slowly, and Justine whirled to face him. 

“No, it is not! You really want more people to die!” Justine hissed and Paul flinched and very pointedly did not look where Marishka was lying. 

“You are not in charge Miss Jaeb,” Major Campbell barked, and Justine flushed angrily but fell silent. I had a cheeky comment on the tip of my tongue about Major Campbell going mad with power but decided that prodding him probably wouldn’t help the Doctor’s stress levels. 

“Major if you will not listen to reason then listen to tactics. You are outnumbered and probably outgunned. Diplomacy is your only option,” the Doctor said in that frustrated way he got when people asked for his advice and then completely ignored him. Major Campbell flashed him a harsh grin. 

“We merely need to maintain our position. I managed to radio UNIT before the generators were turned off to request assistance. They’ll be here in less than an hour.” The Doctor growled at his words and raked his hands through his hair and grumbled a few words under his breath harshly. The only word I caught of his tirade was a very disgruntled ‘Humans’ which I thought was fair. 

“If you refuse to assist then I will be forced to continue to use Emma in the plan to ensure that you don’t attempt to sabotage us,” Major Campbell added. The Doctor’s expression darkened dangerously at that and I bit down on my lip as I looked between him and the gun. 

“And if I refuse because you are now threatening Emma?” He asked in a way that made me nervous. I hadn’t heard him talk like that since the Master and I definitely did not want to go back to that. Major Campbell seemed surprised by the Doctor’s question as if he hadn’t considered that the Doctor wouldn’t meekly go along with his demand. 

“I’m sure you can figure it out Doctor.” Major Campbell flicked the safety off the trigger, and I sighed deeply while I rolled my eyes. 

“That will convince him for sure,” I said sarcastically, and the Doctor shot me a look like he was trying to say that I wasn’t helping. I shrugged back at him because I had held it in as best I could. 

“Fine Major Campbell, we’ll do it your way,” the Doctor said with an aggravated hand wave. The Major nodded stiffly in a self-satisfied way and motioned for all of us to go out in the hallway. He put me in the front of the group and ignored the Doctor’s look when he informed everyone that they were to stay at least three paces away from me. Justine flashed him another glare and stood beside me and loudly counted three steps away from me before we started moving. 

“Very subtle. I approve,” I said and smiled at her widely. She shot me a satisfied look and walked next to me with her flashlight leading the way. I hummed a song idly under my breath so that I could bother Major Campbell and keep the fear away. It was really dark in the hallways and usually I’d hold the Doctor’s hand and make him talk, but that clearly wasn’t an option right now. I was so caught up in my song that I almost missed seeing something move in the dark just beyond the reach of Justine’s flashlight. I paused and held my hand out to stop Justine. 

“What is it?” The Doctor asked and I shook my head slowly. 

“I thought I saw something move in the hallway,” I said. The Major grumbled behind me. 

“I do not appreciate your attempt to stall for time,” he said, and I pivoted slightly to throw him a glare over my shoulder. I turned back and saw movement again, much faster this time and the shape slammed into Justine before I could point it out. She screamed and dropped the flashlight, which disturbed the light enough that I couldn’t see what was happening until the flashlight rolled to a stop on Justine laying on the ground. My breath caught in my throat while the world shrank and compressed tightly as I realized that her neck was twisted unnaturally, and her eyes had gone vacant and unseeing. 

“Make her stop this instant.” I heard the Major’s words distantly through the fog of my panic. I hadn’t managed to tear my eyes away from Justine, so I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about. The Doctor appeared in front of me and cupped my cheek in his hand which made me flinch away from him in shock. 

“Emma, I need you to breathe,” he said in a way that was firm and gentle all at the same time as he smoothed his thumb over my cheek. I stared at him for a moment and sucked in the best breath I could manage, and he smiled at me. “Good. I’m going to help.” 

It was only about a half second later when I could feel him in my head, calming me down from the inside out. I blinked at him for a few moments as the tears welled up now that I wasn’t panicking. 

_‘I’m sorry Emma, I’m so sorry but if you cry Major Campbell will not react well’_ The Doctor said and gave my cheek another gentle stroke as my tears dried up in a way that didn’t feel quite natural. I grabbed his hand when he stepped away and wrapped my fingers in his tightly. 

“Step away Doctor,” Major Campbell ordered and my hold on the Doctor’s hand turned into a death grip. 

“You’ll have to shoot me to get me to move Major,” the Doctor said firmly without looking away from my face and I gave him a shaky smile. 

“Lead the way then Doctor.” The Doctor squatted down next to Justine without dropping my hand and closed her eyes gently before gingerly picking up the flashlight and standing again. I started counting how many steps I was taking under my breath as we walked so that I could focus my brain on a continuous monotonous task and keep my breathing steady. 

“You really owe me New York and Paris now,” I whispered under my breath and the Doctor chuckled just loud enough for me to hear and squeezed my hand tightly 

“I’ll get you there or die trying,” he said, and I shot him an exasperated look. 

“Why are you putting that karma out into the universe?” I asked and he chuckled again. 

“It made you smile,” he said, and I rolled my eyes at him slightly, but flashed him a brief smile. He paused and held up a hand. “Someone’s here.” 

The lights flared on suddenly and I slammed my eyes shut against the sudden bright light and when I blinked them open again, I realized that we were facing six Homo Reptilia who were all armed to the teeth and I also realized that both armed parties had their weapons pointed at each other when the Doctor dropped my hand to put a hand in front of me protectively. 

“This looks intense,” I said. 

“State your intentions,” Major Campbell ordered, and the Silurian leader growled something back. I skimmed my gaze over them carefully before I spotted Vax just off the middle. I knew it was him because of the way he was looking at Cecelia, though he was being very subtle about it. I jerked back into awareness at the sound of several safeties being released off of triggers and realized that this was turning into an all-out standoff. 

I ducked around the Doctor’s arm and moved before I thought about it until I was between the Silurians and the Major and Paul with my hands flung out. 

“Stop it!” I ordered and ignored the Doctor’s worried noises as everyone stopped shouting. I pointedly looked between the two parties. 

“Now I can’t speak for the _Homo Reptilia_ but Major we have moved past this absolute refusal to share our planet and if you used your brain you would know that!” I snapped and turned my gaze towards the other party. “And is this how you want to take the Earth back?! With genocide?!” 

Vax stepped forward bravely and stood next to me and faced his compatriots. 

“She is right. This is not the way. We are better than that” Vax said. There were a few tense seconds of silence before the Major’s laugh cut through the air. 

“You believe that these creatures have a sense of morality?” He asked and I sneered at him before I could think better of it. 

“I think humanity might have a sense of morality yes,” I said, and I heard the Doctor groan like he was realizing how much he had rubbed off on me and he was suddenly understanding how companions felt all the time. 

There were a few heavy tense seconds of silence before it was shattered by the sound of someone firing. I ducked instinctively even though I couldn’t tell who had fired first, though now both sides were embroiled in a ferocious shoot out and I was standing in the middle of it. I stumbled to the side as a bullet whizzed past my ear and I clapped my hand over my ear and blinked to try and catch my balance before I fell over. 

“Emma!” The Doctor cried as he somehow caught me and shoved me as hard as he could to the side, putting himself between me and the small war that was happening behind us. We hit a wall and he shoved me into a crouch. When everything went quiet, we both poked our heads up. Bodies of both species were sprawled across the floor except for Vax and Cecelia who were in a similar position of the Doctor and me. I took several disjointed breaths as I skimmed my gaze over the room. 

“Easy Emma. We’re okay,” the Doctor said just before the Major lurched up from the floor with one hand clamped over the wound in his stomach and the other with a gun pointed directly at Cecelia. 

“Traitor!” He cried and Vax shouted for Cecelia and the Doctor pressed my face into his chest so that I couldn’t see what was happening as the Major fired. Despite the Doctor’s attempts, I could still hear the bone chilling way that Cecelia screamed, and I pushed on his shoulders to try and get him to let me go once I heard two thuds. 

“Oh my God,” I said as soon as I freed myself from the Doctor’s grasp. Cecelia was cradling Vax’s head in her lap, keening in agony with blood spattered all over her face. I might not have seen what happened, but I was smart enough to be able to put the pieces together. 

“The UNIT reinforcements will arrive in twenty minutes.” I looked up at the Doctor and realized that he had his eyes pressed together like he was seeing something he didn’t want to. “They cover up the skirmish and when the rest of the crew get back it will be like it never happened. Vulcan Ten will be shut down within the month.” 

“Fixed,” I breathed because I could tell from the look on his face that we had turned this into a fixed point in history. The Doctor nodded even though I wasn’t sure I had phrased it as a question. I shakily stood up and tried to not look around too much though I couldn’t manage to keep my eyes off Cecelia for very long. 

“Cecelia are you hurt?” I asked. Her head ducked down towards Vax’s and I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “Cecelia?” 

“Go away,” Cecelia said, and I walked towards her to try and offer her some kind of comfort. She jerked away from me and I flinched. “Just go.” 

“Cecelia,” the Doctor said, and she cut him off. 

“Unless you are about to offer to save him there is not a single thing that you have to say to me,” she said venomously. I chomped down so hard on my lower lip to hold in my tears that I tasted blood. The Doctor reached out and grabbed my hand and started to drag me back towards the TARDIS though he wasn’t fast enough to prevent me from hearing Cecelia’s next words. 

“I hate you.” The Doctor practically threw me in the TARDIS and started the take off sequence before I could blink. I dropped into a crouch and pressed my hands over my ears like that would block out the lingering ringing. I sucked in several distant cut off breaths before I realized that I was definitely having a panic attack as the Doctor dropped in front of me. It wasn’t really much of a surprise considering the number of panic attacks I’d pushed aside today. 

“Emma breathe,” he ordered gently as he pulled my hands away from my ears. 

“They all died. They all died,” I said between desperate breaths. The Doctor grasped my hands in one of his and moved the other to rub my back gently. 

“It wasn’t your fault. It was an unsolved mystery before we got here remember?” Somehow that made me feel better even though I knew that it shouldn’t have. He made a few more soothing noises as I tried to get my breathing under control. 

“There has to be a way,” I started slowly as we both stood up from the floor before the Doctor cut me off. 

“No Emma. There isn’t. There is no way.” His tone made it clear that he didn’t want to argue about it and truth be told I didn’t want to either. The only thing was that the Doctor was assuming that I wanted to find a way to go back and save him. I didn’t, I mean I did, but I knew that there was no way we could without destroying the timeline. So now I was just focused on the idea of making it better for Cecelia. I felt like we owed her that much after we had accidentally made this event a fixed point. 

The Doctor wandered off down the hallway after we were floating in the vortex and neither of us had said anything for a while. I stared at the console for several minutes before I sighed as I took a step towards the console. 

“Could you lock him in a room somewhere?” I asked, and a door appeared where the open hallway usually was that lead away from the console room. “That works too. Thanks.” 

I started by carefully copying all of their messages to each other to a private server that Cecelia would find six months after we left before doing a quick google search and started the take off sequence. 

“Emma?” The Doctor called a few seconds later and knocked on the door. He sounded a little concerned, though I couldn’t quite tell if he was concerned for me or for the timeline, but I decided to ignore him and ask for forgiveness later as I landed and headed for the door. 

“Keep him contained for a little bit longer if you can,” I told the TARDIS as I stepped out. I ducked into Cecelia’s room in the nursing home and knocked at the foot of the bed. She blinked awake and smiled at me. 

“Emma,” she said, and I smiled as I sat down next to her. “It’s lovely to see you again.” 

“It’s lovely to see you again as well. I’m sorry it’s been so long, but I didn’t think that the way we left was very fair. And I supposed that the drama of a death bed reconciliation was too much to pass up,” I said, and Cecelia laughed. 

“There have been a lot of reporters skulking around recently. Though I think they’re hoping for a death bed confession.” She winked at me and I laughed. 

“Why did you never say anything?” I asked. 

“It hurt too much to make the words. His people believed in soul mates did you know?” I shook my head and she continued. “I truly believe in my heart that we were soul mates and the loss of him was indescribable.” 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t save him,” I said. 

“Thank you for the messages. I don’t know how you did it but thank you.” I nodded immediately as I swiped away a few tears quickly. 

“I was trying to make it better.” 

“You did,” she assured me, and we fell silent for a few moments. “I should apologize to you. The words I said to you the last time that we spoke wasn’t fair on my part.” 

“Thank you.” I grinned at her. “What a death bed reconciliation hey?” 

“We are certainly checking off all the clichés,” she said with a laugh and a glimmer in her eyes. Suddenly the humorous expression dropped off her face. 

“Do we ever get along?” She asked, and I reached out to grab her hand. I was pretty sure that I wasn’t supposed to tell her, but I’d managed to time my landing perfectly, so I knew for a fact that she wasn’t long for this world. And I was already going to have to beg for forgiveness from the Doctor later anyway, so I didn’t see the harm. 

“Yes. It takes a few other bad incidents, but yes. Eventually everyone figures it out and they all live peacefully with each other.” Cecelia pressed her free hand to her mouth and a single tear rolled down her cheek. 

“Is intermarriage-?” She asked and seemed so overcome that she couldn’t finish her question. 

“Legal, practiced. I wish you could have seen it,” I said. She looked down forlornly at her hand that had the wedding mark and I suddenly realized that she couldn’t see it anymore. It had probably disappeared when Vax died. My heart lurched in sympathy for her and I swallowed against the tears that were welling up again. 

“Oh, so do I. But it wouldn’t have meant anything without him there as well.” 

“I admire how much you love him. It’s the kind of love that people write epic poems about, that people weep over centuries later. I hope I find something like that some day,” I said, and Cecelia pressed my hand between hers. 

“You will.” She looked over my shoulder at the TARDIS. “Do me a favour and go explore something wonderful.” 

“Will do,” I said and gave her a salute as I stood up. I hoped that our little talk had given her as much peace as it had given me. I opened the door and blinked in surprise at the Doctor strapped to the floor by pieces of metal. 

“Doctor,” I said in greeting as I stepped over him towards the console. He sent me a slight glare. 

“How is it that the TARDIS likes you better than me?” He grumbled. I took off and pivoted to face him and leaned against the console. 

“I mean all I told her was to keep you contained for as long as she could. I didn’t necessarily say that she needed to strap you to the floor.” 

“What did you do?” He narrowed his eyes at me. 

“I had a talk with Cecelia.” 

“Emma,” the Doctor said warningly. 

“It was the last day of her life. I don’t think giving her a bit of comfort is going to cause any problems,” I said. 

“What did you tell her?” He asked sharply. 

“Where’s the trust?” I asked rhetorically with a slightly irritated hand wave. “I arranged for her to get all the messages that they ever wrote each other about six months after we left. And then I told her that eventually the humans and Silurians figure it out and live peacefully. That they can marry each other.” 

“Oh,” the Doctor said sheepishly, and I nodded. 

“Did you know that the wedding mark disappears when the other person dies?” I asked softly, and he shook his head as best he could as his eyes softened. 

“No. I thought she would have it for the rest of her life,” he said, and I shook my head sadly. 

“You can let him go whenever you feel like it,” I said to the TARDIS after a few seconds of silence and knocked on the rotor gently with my knuckle. She hummed like she was considering it very carefully and the Doctor groaned. 

“Can I get up if I apologize for not trusting Emma?” He paused as if waiting for an answer before sighing in defeat and looking up at me. I quirked an eyebrow up at him. 

“It’s not that I didn’t trust you. It’s that I knew how much you were hurting because of what happened and I was worried that if you went to try and fix it you wouldn’t be able to and it would make you feel worse. I am very sorry that you felt like you couldn’t be straight forward with me about this.” 

“Please let him up,” I said to the TARDIS and she complied. He bounced up immediately and came to rest in front of me and folded my hands between his. 

“You can’t protect me from hurting,” I said, and the Doctor scoffed. 

“Why not? You do it all the time with me.” 

“That’s different,” I said because it was. The Doctor’s pain was a different kind of beast that I did my best to tame because that’s what friends do. 

“Do you not realize that I hate it when you’re hurting because it hurts me too?” He asked. I smiled and leaned my head against his shoulder. 

“Okay yeah that’s fair. I just, I feel like the companion is supposed to be the one who’s put together,” I said, and the Doctor laughed slightly and slung an arm around my shoulders. 

“Emma for the first time in a very long time you have granted me the wonderful ability to return the favour.” I looked up at him quizzically. “You’ve put pieces of me back together and I’ve done the same with you.” 

“I didn’t realize it meant that much to you,” I said. The Doctor tipped his head so that it rested on mine. 

“I didn’t either really.”


End file.
